Quote:
Originally Posted by delito8
Arivaraci, yes, we started from seed.
carolyn137, ah... My intention was only to tell that it doesn't really matter if you have only one plant  But I'll read the article too, if it's easy enough for my english ...  |
The link to the article is in this thread in post #11, and here's the important part from it as regards pollination:
(Tomatillo is self-incompatible, so all plants are hybrids. Pollination is by insects. Cross pollination with other cultivars or other
Physalis spp. would be possible if the plants are closer than 500 m. All seed production must be carried out in isolation. Saray-Meza et al. (1978) reported that 10 kg of fruit yields 100 to 200 g of seeds. Plant viruses can reduce tomatillo yields by 30 to 40%. Delgado-Sanchez (1986) described a complex of at least three different viruses affecting tomatillo.)
So, as I said above tomatillo plants are self incomptible which is why folks grow at least two plants and as I also said above, a source of pollen can also be any other Physalis species within 500 meters.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physalis
Above is a discussion of the genus Physalis, many of them considered weeds, not cultivated, and there are about 80 different species in the genus, of which a few are listed near the bottom of the page of the above link.
So I do think that the only way you got berries was by insects transferring pollen from another Physalis species which you didn't even know was growing within 500 meters of your garden.
If you had a true self pollenizing Tomatillo plant you'd have something that no one else in the horticultural world has ever seen.
Hope that helps.